City residents get their one and only opportunity to critique Mayor Dorinda Borer’s second budget proposal as the city’s chief executive as the City Council will meet in special session on Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Harriett North Meeting Room of City Hall, 355 Main St. The major revenues and expenditures are detailed in today’s edition, beginning on pages 13-16.
The $187.5 million spending plan considers the recent revaluation required by state statutes, which saw real property values balloon some 56%, according to Mayor Borer. In an open letter in this week’s edition (see page 7) she outlines the progress accomplished by her administration in the past year, and what is hoped to be accomplished in the new fiscal year, beginning July 1.
Of most importance to city property owners, the budget is increased by approximately $5 million over the current fiscal year, due to inflation and other economic pressures. The rise is only 2.6%, according to the mayor.
Given the revaluation numbers, Borer said a decrease in the mill rate, somewhat commensurate with the rise in property values, is reflected in the budget.
“To mitigate the impact, we lowered the mill rate from 36.57 to 25.76 and reduced the Allingtown mill rate from 11 to 8,” she writes. The Fire Dept. of West Haven—Allingtown is under the aegis of the city, while the other two departments, First Taxation District (Center) and the West Shore Fire Department remain independent. Those entities will announce their proposed budgets to be finalized in May over the next several weeks.
A homeowner can expect a tax of $25.76 per thousand of assessed value as the tax for the coming year, not including fire taxes.
The breakdown of this year’s budget sees the Education Department getting $93.8 million to operate the school system in FY2026. This is a total $.17 million increase over the current year.
The annual public hearing is the only public act of the City Council, which then does a total review of the spending plan over the next four weeks, before a final budget ordinance is passed on the first Thursday of May. The entire procedure is outlined in this week’s editorial (See page 6).
Still to be determined once the City Council gives its go-ahead is the Municipal Accountability Review Board. Under the Tier IV designation the city has shouldered for the past several years, the budget, though passed by the City Council, must still be approved by MARB.
MARB has mentioned some concerns during the preliminary budget-making process, including its concerns about underfunded fire pensions in the city’s independent fire districts.
Mayor Borer is hoping this is the last budget to go under official scrutiny by the panel, which has sat overseeing the city’s finances since December of 2017.